This invention relates to electric toasters, and more particularly to an improved safety device for an electric toaster for arresting operation of the toaster in the event of a jammed food item.
Household toasters commonly have a control chamber separated from a toasting chamber by a vertical end wall. A support carriage is slidably received on a support post in the control chamber and carries a pair of bread lifters that extend into and at least partially through the toasting chamber between heating elements located in the toasting chamber. The support carriage, and thus the bread lifters, are vertically movable between a raised nontoasting position for permitting the bread or other food items to be placed on or removed from the bread lifters and a lowered toasting position for holding bread or other food items in position to be toasted.
In many toasters, a coil spring biases the support carriage upwardly so that the bread lifters are normally in the raised position. The support carriage can be lowered to the toasting position by manipulation of a control lever accessible from outside the toaster housing. During a toasting cycle, a latch mechanism holds the support carriage and thus the bread lifters in the lowered toasting position. The duration of the toasting cycle can be adjusted by a user-manipulated control knob.
Some toasters include a lost-motion safety device wherein the bread is lowered by the support carriage onto holding tabs that extend from a sheet metal base of the toaster. The tabs are formed by stamping U-shaped slots in the sheet metal base then bending the tabs to form cantilevered supports. Once the bread is supported on the holding tabs, the support carriage can continue to descend until locked or latched in a toasting position, whereupon heating elements are energized to toast the bread. Should the bread become lodged at the end of a toasting cycle, the support carriage will move upward to de-energize the heating elements before the bread lifters contact the bread. In this manner, the toasting cycle is stopped before the bread reaches an unpleasant state, and any danger associated with manually removing the bread from the toaster is minimized.
The prior art method of forming the holding tabs in the base of the toaster for the lost-motion safety device is a time-consuming task that requires special machinery and/or extra processing steps, resulting in a higher cost per toaster unit. In order to maintain a competitive edge in the toaster industry, there is a continuous need to improve toaster mechanisms and their method of manufacture to realize further cost savings while maintaining safety standards. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a toaster with an improved safety device with a lost motion mechanism that does not require holding tabs or the like.
According to the invention, an electric toaster comprises a chassis having at least one toasting compartment. At least one electric heater is located at least adjacent the at least one toasting compartment. A carriage bracket is supported on the chassis for movement between an upper rest position and a lower actuation position and is biased toward the upper rest position. A food support member is positioned in the at least one toasting compartment for supporting a food item. The food support member is supported by the carriage bracket between the upper rest position and a lower toasting position. An electromagnet is connected to one of the chassis and the carriage bracket for holding the carriage bracket in the actuation position when the electromagnet is energized. At least one switch is movable to a closed position upon downward movement of the carriage bracket to the actuating position to energize the electromagnet and the at least one heating element. The carriage bracket is upwardly movable upon deenergization of the electromagnet to open the at least one switch between the actuation position and the lower toasting position to thereby deenergize the at least one heating element. With this arrangement, the at least one heating element is deenergized while the food support member is in the lower toasting position to thereby prevent further operation of the at least one heating element. This is especially advantageous in the event of a food jam where the food support member is lodged in the lower toasting position.
Further according to the invention, a safety shut-off device for an electric toaster is provided. The electric toaster has a food support member movable in a toasting chamber between an upper rest position and a lower toasting position and at least one heating element located in the toasting chamber. The safety shut-off device comprises a carriage bracket supported on the chassis for movement between the upper rest position and a lower actuating position. The carriage bracket includes a support arm that supports the food support member between the upper rest position and the lower toasting position. The support arm is free of the food support member between the lower toasting position and the lower actuating position. At least one switch is movable to a closed position upon downward movement of the carriage bracket to the lower actuating position to thereby energize the at least one heating element. The carriage bracket is upwardly movable at the end of a toasting cycle to open the at least one switch between the lower actuating position and the lower toasting position to thereby deenergize the at least one heating element. In this manner, the at least one heating element is deenergized while the food support member is in the lower toasting position to thereby prevent further operation of the at least one heating element.